2008 Woodie Awards
Baseball begins season with doubleheader split
By: Andrea Brazell
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: Sports
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Staff Writer
The Crusader baseball team split their doubleheader with Southern Wesleyan University on Saturday, Feb. 3. North Greenville won the first game 6-3 and SWU took the second 12-0.
The Crusaders started out their first game of the season a little shaky. By the end of the third inning, the scoreboard read, 3-0, SWU. However, at the top of the fourth, first baseman Tyler Callicutt, freshman undecided, drove in second baseman Mike Reis, senior Christian studies, and outfielder Matt Britt, senior sport management. Callicutt also scored his own run with the help of catcher Curt Marshall, junior elementary education, who hammered out a home run and took the Crusaders into the bottom of the fourth with a lead of 4-3.
North Greenville owned the first game defensively with strong leadership in the field from both Marshall and pitcher Devin Vance, junior business administration. While all of the Warrior's runs were scored in the second inning, there were several times when the bases were loaded and the Crusaders' defense remained steady and did not crack under pressure. They worked together as a team to strategically and efficiently accumulate the outs needed to advance. While the Crusaders would only go on to attain two additional runs, their level of play was strong and consistent throughout, and they defeated SWU 6-3.
The second game of the day was not as pleasant as the first. Both teams went scoreless in the first inning, but the second would soon prove to be disastrous. With no runs being scored by the Crusaders, SWU stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the second and brought in nine runs. After the long break between games and some changes in players, the Crusaders could not seem to tap into that tenacious defense that had been seen in the first game. SWU scored three final runs in the fourth and beat NGU 12-0.
"I think we did a lot of positive things. We had three goals going in: to hustle, to see the ball, and to maintain good positioning. I think we accomplished these during the first game," said an optimistic Marshall.
He also felt that they might have become "complacent" and "a little overconfident" during the break between games, which he thought contributed to their loss.
"Come practice Monday, I hope we can expand on the things we did right, learn from the mistakes we made and come Wednesday get two from St. Andrews," said Marshall.
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